


Stranded

by Katt_the_Dragon



Series: KnT (mis)Adventures [3]
Category: Kid n Teenagers (Web Comic)
Genre: Digital Art, Fluff, I rushed this a little bit, I'm Bad At Summaries, I'm Bad At Tagging, I'm Bad At Titles, M/M, Slow To Update, Ted is a merperson, Work In Progress, cuteness, merfolk, mermaid au
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-06-04
Updated: 2018-06-10
Packaged: 2019-05-18 06:52:51
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 5
Words: 4,888
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14847864
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Katt_the_Dragon/pseuds/Katt_the_Dragon
Summary: Chris gets caught in a shipwreck and is lost out at sea. Is anyone going to help him?





	1. Chapter 1

Five full days of nothing but ocean. Chris couldn’t tell if he was excited for it or dreading it. Probably dreading it, seeing as the ship they were on had a strict ‘No pets’ policy, which meant no cats on the ship. Chris almost couldn’t stand the idea, but the thought of seeing his mom finally able to relax was good enough incentive.

The day had finally arrived where the ship left the dock and set out on its voyage. Chris found himself slowly warming up to the idea of relaxing on this trip and exploring the boat with Aiden. Chris’s mother stayed behind in their room to finish unpacking and told her sons to go explore and not to bother the other guests. Chris turned to Aiden after they left the room. “What do you want to do first?” He asked.

“Nothing with you, freak.” Aiden snapped before mumbling, “I want to go look at the water…”

Chris just smiled and started walking. “C’mon, we’ll head to the front of the ship and look out over the edge. We’ll be able to see for miles!” He said. Aiden gripped his backpack straps and went running after his brother.

~~

Two days into the trip and Chris had already gotten bored. It was fun at first but now he really wished he had more to do.  _ I just wish something interesting would happen… _ He thought. It was then that he noticed dark clouds looming on the horizon. But he thought nothing of it and left the front of the ship to go find Aiden.

~~

Alarms were sounding and people were shouting. Chris had picked up Aiden and was holding him tightly to his chest as he ran after his mother towards the lifeboats. Who would’ve guessed they would run into a storm bad enough to damage the ship and cause it to sink.

His mother got on the lifeboat first and Chris handed Aiden to her. As Chris was about to step into the boat, one of the men in charge stopped him. “This boat is full, you’ll have to go to the next one.”

Chris just nodded and turned to leave. “Chris! Stay here with your brother, I’ll go to the next boat.” His mother called, standing up.

“No, it’s fine mom. I’ll go! Just stay together!” Chris called as he ran off to the next lifeboat station. He sounded calm but in reality he was terrified. He just got separated from his family and now had to find the other lifeboats. He felt the ship groan and shudder beneath his feet, he tripped and smacked his head against the floor. He stood back up, vision spinning, and kept moving.

The ship was taking on a lot of water very quickly and was starting to go down faster. Chris couldn’t find the other lifeboats and his head was killing him. Pieces of the ship were coming off in chunks and drifting out to sea. Suddenly a large fissure appeared by his feet and the part of the ship he was standing on started to slide towards the water. The only thing he could do was hang on for dear life as the debris hit the ocean surface.

The cold seawater clung to his clothes and hair, chilling him to the bone. Rain was coming down in torrents and felt like knives against his skin. His head was hurting even worse and he could barely keep his eyes open. His vision was beginning to darken.  _ I’m sorry mom… _

His world went dark.

 


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Someone gets a name.

Chris regained consciousness after the storm had passed. His skin and clothes were crusted with salt from the ocean water and the sun beat down on him from above. He opened his eyes slowly, letting them adjust to the light. Once he sat up and looked around, he could feel his heart drop.

The ship was gone entirely, save for a few floating chunks of wood. The lifeboats were also gone, meaning they left him behind. Continuing to survey his surroundings, he could’ve sworn he saw something else in the water. It almost looked like a person. But he blinked and it was gone. “I haven’t even been out here for a full day and I’m already hallucinating, just great.” He grumbled to himself and pulled his knees up to his chest. _What am I going to do now?_

~~

Taahi placed a hand over his heart and sighed in relief. It almost caught me. _That would’ve been bad, I don’t know if it’s dangerous yet._ He gazed up at the floating wood that he knew the human was sitting on. _Why is it all by itself? Where are the rest of them?_

Taahi had many unanswered questions and ran a hand through is green hair. He wanted to go talk to the human, to practice what he had taught himself about the human language and get some of his questions answered. _But that’s dangerous._ He reminded himself. _You’re not supposed to do that…_ His thoughts trailed off as he stared at the driftwood. _But it’s only one… maybe it wouldn’t hurt just to try._

Making up his mind, Taahi swam cautiously towards the driftwood and slowly rose up to the edge of it, poking the top of his head and eyes out of the water and curling his fingers over the board. The human hadn’t noticed him yet, so he took the time to study it, carefully taking in all of its features. And then came the scream.

~~

As soon as Chris looked to his right, he saw a mop of green hair and two pearl colored eyes staring intensely at him. So doing what any normal person would do, he let out a not-so-manly shriek and scuttled to the far end of the driftwood.

The mystery person winced and covered the sides of his head with his hands while sinking back down into the water. Chris was breathing heavily, terrified of what he just saw. _What the fuck was that?!_

~~

Taahi felt like his ears were ringing despite the noise having stopped. _Is that a defense mechanism of some kind?_ He thought. A small part of him said that he was wasting his time and that he should just leave, but his curiosity willed him to stay. _Maybe I should try again…_

Cautiously rising from the water again, Taahi saw the human sitting in the same spot as before. The human opened its mouth and Taahi covered his ears preemptively but no shrill sound came this time. “What are you…?” The human asked.

Taahi could barely suppress his grin. _The human is speaking!_ He thought excitedly. “ Baovveche.” He responded. The human just sat there looking confused and Taahi quickly realized that it couldn’t understand Mermish. _Of course it can’t. You know this._ He chastised himself. “I’m... merfolk…” Taahi said, the foreign language felt strange on his tongue, but still he was rather pleased.

~~

Chris had been utterly confused when the person first spoke, the word itself was beautiful and so was the voice that was saying it, but it still meant nothing to him. Then the person clarified. _Merfolk? Like mermaids and stuff? But those are just stories!_ His brain screamed at him. “Oh my god, I’m going crazy…” He murmured.

Looking over, he saw the… merperson… staring at him with a puzzled look on his face. He kept looking Chris up and down as if trying to figure something out. “Are…” He began hesitantly. “Are you a boy human… or a girl human…?” 

Chris didn’t know if he wanted to laugh or yell at the poor man. I guess he’s never seen a person up close before. “I’m a boy.” He responded, much to the merperson’s delight.

“Does the human boy have a name?” He quickly asked, staring at Chris with wonder in his eyes.

Chris couldn’t help giggling this time. “Yeah, my name is Chris.” He smiled.

“Chrisss…” The merperson said his name like a hiss, repeating it a few times as if trying it out.

“What about you?” Chris’ question snapped him out of his practice. “Does the merperson have a name?” Chris asked with a smile.

The merfolk nodded. “Ttheeni Taahi.” He answered.

Chris gave him a sad smile. “That’s a very nice name, but I don’t think I can pronounce it.” Shaking his head, he started to mumble. “But I need to call you something…” There was a moment of thought before, “I got it! How about I give you a name! Something I can pronounce, a human name.” Chris grinned. The merfolk nodded enthusiastically, clearly fond of the idea. “Now, what to call you…” Chris wanted it to be something easy for the merperson to remember and recognize, maybe using the same first letter that’s already in his name. “How about Ted?” Chris asked.

“Ted?” The merperson tested out this new name as well and smiled slightly. “I like it.”

“Okay then, I’ll call you Ted from now on.” Chris smiled. “So Ted, you’re really a merperson? With a tail and stuff?” Ted nodded and lifted the tip of his tail from the water to show off. Now it was Chris’ turn to be in awe. “That’s so cool!” He cheered.

~~

 _Chris gave me a name!_ He thought excitedly. _Ted. My name is now Ted._

The newly dubbed Ted watched as Chris fawned over his tail. _I like this human. I think I’ll stay here for a while._


	3. Chapter 3

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A meal (kind of).

_This is amazing!_ Chris thought. _I thought mermaids and stuff only existed in fairytales. Though he’s not technically a mermaid… he’s a he._ Chris couldn’t help but gawk at the fishlike tail that Ted had. “Can I touch it?” He asked hesitantly. He wanted to make sure it was real.

Ted adjusted himself in the water so that he was floating on his back, bringing his tail up to the surface of the water. “Go ahead.”

Chris reached into the water and gently ran his fingers over the scales. “It’s smooth.” He said aloud, though he wasn’t sure what he was expecting. The entire length of his tail was a dark black, and his fins were a soft green just like his hair. “This is awesome! Just wait until Aiden get a load of thi-” He cut himself off. Aiden wasn’t here, and neither was his mom. He was stranded. He hadn’t really realized it because Ted had distracted him. But other then that, he was out here all alone with no food or water.

“There’s ocean in your eyes.” Ted said with a frown. “Why?”

Chris looked at him confused before he realized that he was crying. He laughed sadly and tried to wipe the tears away. “That’s not ocean. I’m just crying.”

“Crying?” Ted questioned. “What is that?”

“Well, humans sometimes cry when they’re sad.” He explained.

“Why are you crying? Are you sad? Why?” Ted bombarded him with questions.

“I’m sad because I’m lost.” Chris said, his voice starting to waver. “The boat I was on sank, and I got separated from my family. And now I’m out here all alone and I’m probably going to die and…” Chris couldn’t continue, he was sobbing now.

~~

_This is not good._ Ted thought, his frown deepening. _I don’t like crying. Chris shouldn’t cry, I like his smile better._ “You’re not going to die.” Ted stated firmly. 

Chris sniffled and looked at Ted with confusion. “What?”

“You’re not going to die.” He said again. “I won’t let you."

“What do you mean?”

“I’m going to help you, so you won’t die.” Ted assured him. Though he hadn’t known Chris long, he felt an overwhelming rush of affection for the human. _I will not let him die._

“Why would you do that?” Chris was confused, why would this magical being help someone like him.

Ted smiled and rose up further out of the water, cupping Chris’s face in his hands. “Because I like you! You’re my favorite!” That was the only explanation that Ted gave. Chris started blushing and Ted pulled away, mumbling to himself. “Humans need food, and water that isn’t ocean.” Was what he said before diving back down into the depths, leaving Chris alone on his driftwood.

~~

Chris just sat there staring at where Ted had been. _He didn’t have a shirt._ Chris blushed. _Of course he wouldn’t… but still!_ He thought while pressing his hands against his heated cheeks. _Why did he have to say it like that!_ He sighed heavily and leaned back on the wood and looked up at the sky. _I wonder what he meant…_

Chris must’ve dozed off at some point because the next thing he knew was that he was woken up by a splashing sound. He sat up and looked towards it and saw Ted staring at him. “You’re back…” Chris murmured sleepily. “I guess it wasn’t a dream.” Ted said nothing and placed what he had brought next to Chris.

There was a fish with a hole in it, clearly it had been stabbed by something, and what looked to be a leather pouch with a nozzle in it, probably made for drinking. Ted picked up the pouch and held it out to Chris. “Drink.” He said.

“What is it?” Chris asked, not willing to put anything unknown into his body, despite how thirsty he was.

“It’s not ocean.” Ted looked deep in thought for a moment, trying to find the right words to say. “Clean water.” He finally said. Chris grabbed the flask from Ted and slowly brought it to his lips, taking a sip. Realizing that it was indeed just water in a pouch, he downed all of it, finishing it off with a satisfied sigh. Ted watched him with a small smile before pushing the fish towards him as well. “Eat.” Was all he said.

Now you would think that eating raw, unprepared fish wouldn’t be the best thing for your body. However, Chris seemed to have an iron stomach that could withstand just about anything. So he picked up the fish and started eating the parts he knew he liked, picking around the bones and other stuff he didn’t want. Once he finished it off, he felt a lot better and looked at Ted. “Thank you.” He smiled.

“You are welcome.” Ted responded. The sun was beginning to sink towards the horizon and despite having taken a nap, Chris felt exhausted and layed down across the wood. Ted watched the sun for a moment before looking back at Chris. “I will come back.” He said and reached out to pat Chris’ hand before diving back into the water.

Chris watched where Ted had disappeared and sighed before closing his eyes. “I’ll be waiting…”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Ted might seem kinda OOC but just bear with me okay?


	4. Chapter 4

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Gifts for a friend.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Anything written in bold is being said in Mermish. I have taken the liberty of translating it for you.

Ted swam towards his home quickly and quietly, he always hated drawing attention to himself and right now he really didn’t want to deal with anyone. He was almost home when, **“Ttheeni!”**

Ted stopped swimming and rolled his eyes. _Great, exactly who I didn’t want to see._ **“Echrassa.”** Ted greeted curtly and watched the fiery-haired mermaid speed towards him.

 **“Ttheeni, what are you doing out so late?”** She narrowed her golden eyes in suspicion. **“It’s nearly curfew.”**

 **“I don’t have time for your nagging, Echrassa. Please leave me alone.”** Ted grumbled and started swimming away.

Echrassa reached out and grabbed his arm. **“Not until you tell me where you were!”** She growled.

Ted ripped his arm from her grasp and whirled around to face her, cold fury in his eyes. **“Mind your own business.”** He snarled before taking off towards his home.

The mermaid watched Ted as he swam away and clutched her silver spear tightly. Just what was that guy up to.

~~

Ted sighed heavily once he was out of sight. He never really liked that girl and never got along with her. Perhaps it was their personalities clashing. Ted was quiet and reserved while Echrassa was loud and often spoke her mind. Or it could be their differing opinions on humans. Ted found them fascinating and wanted to know more about them, Echrassa despised them and wanted them dead.

Thinking about her was putting him in a fowl mood, so he tried to think of something else to take his mind off it. The first thing he thought of was Chris and he couldn’t help the small smile that overtook his features.

He finally made it back to his cave which in reality was more like a labyrinth. He wasn’t fond of people poking around through his stuff, so he made his home here. Looking around at his hoard of treasures that he’s collected he got a brilliant idea. He will bring Chris a gift, and maybe a few other things he might like. _But what to bring him…?_

Ted dug through all his belongings, glass bottles, pearls, shells, ornate mirrors, combs, and the occasional human trinket. He found most of these while scavenging through shipwrecks, old and new. Finally, he decided on a few items to bring with him. A set of hair pearls that he thought would look nice on Chris, a beautiful compass that he had found in a shipwreck, and his favorite shell comb. It’s somewhat well known that both male and female merfolk care greatly about their appearances, so giving a comb as a gift was normal for them. The fact that it was Ted’s favorite just made it special.

Carefully placing each item into a bag, Ted left it sitting somewhere he could see it the next morning. Though he was so excited, he knew he was going to have a hard time sleeping.

~~

Chris awoke to the sound of seabirds. He squinted his eyes at the sun and rolled onto his side, where he saw Ted starring had him. Chris jumped in alarm and sat up immediately. “How long have you been there!?” He squeaked.

Ted just chuckled, resting his head on his arms and gazing up at him with a grin. “You are cute when you’re sleeping.”

Chris blushed heavily, “You’re cute all the time…” He mumbled under his breath and watched as Ted placed another fish in front of him and the same drinking pouch as before. Chris ate and drank in comfortable silence while Ted watched him. Once Chris had finished, he watched as Ted pulled a bag from the water and set it on the driftwood. “What’s that?” Chris asked.

“I brought you gifts.” Ted responded matter-of-factly, and started pulling stuff from the bag. The first was a lovely looking shell. “A comb. It’s my favorite, and you’re also my favorite, so you can have it.” He explained, handing the shell to Chris. The more he looked at it, the more he could see that the spines on the shell resembled that of a comb or brush that he would use at home. He set the shell in his lap and looked back at Ted, who was digging another gift out of his bag. Long strands of pearls woven together in an artistic pattern, it looked really expensive. “Hair pearls.” Was what Ted said when he handed them to Chris.

They were cold and heavy in his hands. His eyes widened. “I can’t keep these.” _For one, I’m not a girl. And two, what if I lose them?!_ Chris looked back to Ted, he looked heartbroken and Chris immediately felt guilty. “I mean, they could get lost…” He tried to explain.

Ted just waved a hand dismissively. “Then I will get more.” Chris opened his mouth to argue but decided it was pointless and gave up. Finally Ted pulled the last item from the bag. “Here.” He handed it to Chris. “I found this, it came from an old ship.”

This one caught Chris’ interest the most. _If it still works, it might help guide me back to land._ He turned the compass over in his hands. “You know what this is, don’t you?” He asked his merfriend.

“It is a…” Ted paused for a moment. “Compass…?” He answered more like a question.

Chris smiled. “That’s right.” Ted’s expression lit up with pride. “The little needle in there is supposed to always point north, so it can help you find which direction you’re moving in.” Chris explained, holding the compass out so his friend could see inside. “Sadly, it doesn’t work anymore, it’s full of water and I can’t tell if it’s actually pointing north.” Chris sighed.

“You don’t like it?” Ted asked with a worried expression.

“No! I think it’s really cool! Don’t be sad!” Chris panicked, nearly dropping the compass in the process. Ted sighed in relief and started eyeing the comb in Chris’ lap.

Placing both hands on the large piece of wood, Ted lifted himself out of the water and sat on the edge of the debris, the end of his tail still in the water. This was the second time Chris could see Ted’s upper body and got a much better look at it. He was very pale and on the leaner side, but you could clearly see muscle there, indicating that he was indeed strong. There were small translucent scales that dotted his skin as well as light green markings here and there. Just under his navel is where the bigger, black scales that made up his tail started appearing. Overall, Chris would consider him very attractive, despite not knowing much about his species.

Ted reached over and plucked the comb from Chris’ lap, he then motioned Chris to sit closer to him. Chris blushed lightly but slid closer to his friend. Reaching up, Ted caught a few strands of Chris’ hair in the comb’s spines and brushed through them gently. Finally seeing what Ted was trying to do, he adjusted himself to that Ted would have better access to his hair. If Chris was a cat, he’d be purring right now. He couldn’t remember a time when he’s been so relaxed. He just sighed in content and leaned back into the motions.

After a few minutes of this, Ted stopped brushing Chris’ hair and grabbed the pearls from beside him, carefully arranging them atop Chris’ head. Chris turned around to face his friend who gasped with a light pink dusting his cheeks. “So pretty…” Ted murmured, eyes wide. Now it was Chris’ turn to blush.

Reaching for the canteen, Chris noticed it was empty. “Um, Ted? Thank you for doing my hair, but could you please get me some more drinking water?” He asked sheepishly. Ted simply nodded and slid back into the water.

He took the canteen from Chris and smiled at him. “So pretty~” He sighed before diving beneath the surface, leaving Chris a blushing mess.


	5. Chapter 5

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Where does the water come from?

Ted swam away from the debris with a small smile on his face. However, as soon as the village came into view, his expression quickly dropped to one indifference. It wasn’t that he hated it, it just never felt right being there. He skirted around the outer parts of the village nodding at the few people who chose to greet him and made his way back to his cave.

Quickly swimming through the tunnels that he knew by heart he reached his hoard. He picked up a small pouch, filling it with a few pearls and iridescent shells.  _ This should be enough for them… _ He thought.  _ And then Chris can have his clean water. _ Ted smiled at this before leaving the cave and moving out to the open ocean.

~~

Ted was a naturally fast swimmer, one of the fastest in his tribe, so the trip only took about ten minutes while it would’ve taken others longer. Not that anyone else made this trip anyway. He could see the island coming into view and picked up his pace. Reaching the point where the water got shallow he took a sharp left turn and swam up to a rock face on the edge of the beach. Poking his head out of the water, he called out.  **“Naiad! I’m here to make a deal!”**

A moment passed before he could see shimmering lights making their way towards him. Small blue skinned sprites danced along the air, their voiced chiming like excited little bells.  **“You’re back again, Ttheeni.”** The little voices called.

**“I told you, it’s Ted now.”** Ted frowned.

**“Our apologies, Ted.”** Said the Naiad.  **“Did you come to exchange for more water? Did you bring us more shinies?”** They questioned.

**“I did.”** Ted tossed the pouch filled with pearls and the canteen onto the shore and watched as the sprites swarmed around the objects. One of the sprites opening the bag of treasure and peering inside before signalling to the others to fetch the water.

**“It’s a pleasure doing business with you, Ted. But we must ask, why would merfolk need freshwater?”** The sprite asked.

**“It’s not for me, it’s for my favorite. He needs it.”** Ted explained.

**“Wow! A favorite! He must be very special for you to give us all these shinies.”** One of the sprites squeaked.

**“Of course he is.”**

**“Could we see him?”** Another one of the sprites asked.

**“No.”** Ted responded with a frown. He wasn’t quite sure what stance these Naiad took when it came to humans, but if they ended up being anything like Echrassa, he wouldn’t dare let them near Chris.  _ I have to keep him safe. _ He thought.

**“Aww, not even for a little bit? We just want to look.”** The sprites whined.

**“I said no.”** Ted was beginning to grow irritated.  **“You are not allowed to see him.”**

The sprites groaned, a couple stuck out their tongues and blew raspberries.  **“You’re no fun.”** They said. Ted just grumbled and sunk further into the water, waiting for the Naiad to bring back the canteen.

~~

Soon the canteen was back in Ted’s possession. He bid farewell to the sprites and began his swim back to Chris. The overall trip took about fifteen minutes and when Ted saw Chris sitting on the driftwood, he broke into a grin and sped up significantly, nearly running into the side of the debris. “Chris! I am back!” He said excitedly.

Chris looked up from the compass he held and smiled back at Ted. “Welcome back.”

Ted noticed that Chris was still wearing the pearls he had given him. He chuckled and handed off the canteen. “I brought you more water.”

“Thanks.” Chris drank most of the water right off the bat, then closed the mouthpiece and set the canteen aside. “I’m glad you’re back, it was getting lonely without you here.” He said while blushing. “And I missed you.” He whispered and looked back to Ted.

Ted lit up like a Christmas tree. “Really? You mean it? I missed you too!” Ted practically launched himself out of the water and wrapped Chris in a tight hug. “I missed you so much!”  _ My favorite, he missed me. That means he likes it when I’m here, right? _

Chris almost fell backwards from the weight of his friend being thrown at him. But he laughed anyway and returned the hug, despite getting wet. “Yes I mean it. I wouldn’t say so if I didn’t.”

“That makes me very happy…” Ted whispered. “Thank you.”

The two laid on the driftwood, watching the few clouds that were in the sky. “Ted?” Chris started. “Is it true that merfolk drown sailors?” He asked genuinely curious.

Ted was quiet for a minute and Chris thought he might have struck a sensitive topic and was about to apologize. “Not anymore. Merfolk used to a long time ago, when humans were more of a threat, but very few tribes actually go out of there way to do stuff like that nowadays.”

“Oh, okay.” Chris was satisfied with that answer. There was silence for a minute before Chris spoke up again. “How old are you?”

Ted chuckled. “That depends, are you asking in human years or merfolk age cycle?”

“There’s a difference?” Chris propped himself up on one elbow and looked over at Ted with a raised eyebrow.

“Yes. One merfolk age cycle is equal to roughly five human years.” Ted explains. “I’ve been through eighteen age cycles meaning I’m roughly…” He pauses for a minute in thought. “Ninety human years old.”

“Really?! Ninety?! You don’t look a day over eighteen! Do you guys just age slowly or what?” Chris looks at him shocked.

Ted laughs. “I guess we do. Do you have any other questions?” He asked.

“Umm, one more…” Ted waited for Chris to continue. “Is it true that all merfolk can sing?”

“Not quite.” Ted answers. “We are all musically inclined and many of us can sing, but not everyone. Those who can’t spend most of their time practicing instruments.”

“I see…” Chris looked deep in thought. “Do you sing, Ted?”

Ted looked away, slightly embarrassed. “I sing a little, but I spend a lot of my energy playing the harp.”

“You must be really good then.” Chris said excitedly.

“I’m not all that, but if you’d like, I’ll bring my harp with me and play for you tomorrow.” Ted smiled.

“I’d like that a lot.” Chris the smile with a grin of his own. As the sun sunk to the horizon, the two said goodnight to each other. And Ted returned home feeling better then he had in a long time.


End file.
